AutisMate takes a holistic approach to help children and adults with autism spectrum disorders communicate better and address situations related to behavior.

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Technology is proving to be a powerful tool for many children with autism spectrum disorders. Applications for iPad and other devices, as well as Kinect games and applications for Microsoft’s Xbox are bridging the gap for children with having difficulty communicating.

One such iPad app, AutisMate, takes a holistic approach to help children and adults with autism spectrum disorders communicate better and address situations related to behavior. The app takes a traditional picture story approach to communication and personalizes it.

AutisMate includes scenes — a home, a school — with default photos that can be replaced with personal photos. A GPS function allows for automatic presentation of scenes in specific locations.

The application also allows users to build sentences using pictures, to learn tasks through video modeling and to learn about social situations through picture stories. A personalized scheduler allows users to create a visual calendar and add timers and rewards for certain takes.

AutisMate is $149 and is available through the iTunes App Store and through www.autismate.com.